City Scanner
The City Scanner, also known as Scanner Type IHalf-Life 2 Prima Guide and often referred to simply as Scanner, is a lightly armored, flying security camera used by the Combine to monitor City 17's (and possibly other cities) residents. Its Synth counterpart is the Shield Scanner. Application Scanners are equipped with a searchlight and a camera used to take photographic images. The flash emitted when taking an image can temporarily blind a person, even when not looking directly at the flash. The scanner also has a spotlight mounted on its top, which is used for illumination and can move independently from its source. Scanners are powered by a single Combine battery, which can occasionally be salvaged from a destroyed unit and reused for the HEV Suit. Scanners are lightly armored and can be destroyed easily by gunfire, impacting against walls or being hit by objects. A critically damaged scanner will usually attempt to kamikaze dive into its attacker, while spinning and emitting an alarm. As the name implies, Scanners are generally used only in cities and are rarely encountered anywhere else. They are commonly seen patrolling City 17's Canals, searching for refugees. Other applications include reconnaissance and searching for wanted individuals. Scanners help by locating targets and alerting other nearby Combine units. During emergencies, Scanners can be mass-deployed in thousands from the Citadel, to perform a city-wide, and possibly out-of-city search such as when Gordon Freeman was detected in City 17. Interestingly, it appears that parts from a salvaged City Scanner were used in one of the more recent additions to Dog; both machines have a similar frontal design, though Dog's face possesses three face plates while Scanners have four. Behind the scenes *While the City Scanner started as a Synth under several variations that made their way into the Shield Scanner, Ted Backman, and Dhabih Eng both worked on the Scanners concepts; the first ended up with the Synth version, the second the mechanical one, first known as "Combot".Playable ''Half-Life 2'' Beta *As the Combot, the mechanical Scanner was to throw gas from its front, and fire from the small ergots on its two sides. *The mechanical Scanner design was initially modeled after the shape and movement of a piranha. *11 sound files found in the playable Half-Life 2 Beta files also indicate that the mechanical Scanner was to talk directly to people via prerecorded messages. Spoken by a robotic female voice, they include sentences such as "Citizen, do not move.", "You may proceed.", "Hold still for scan.", "Hands on your head." or "Violation has been noted.".Playable ''Half-Life 2'' Beta files Trivia *In the Half-Life 2 chapters Anticitizen One and "Follow Freeman!", the npc_create npc_cscanner console code spawns a Shield Scanner. *Scanners are not directly met in Episode Two; they are only seen on the route to White Forest. *When a City Scanner is "pissed" (as stated by Gabe Newell in Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar), their "pupil" contracts. This happens when the City Scanner is injured. *Strangely, if a City Scanner is spawned in Garry's Mod whilst the "notarget" option is enabled or if it doesn't see any kind of enemy NPCs, it will just start flying up into the sky and won't behave normally unless brought back down with the physics gun. However, in properly coded maps, they will perform normally. *If the player uses the cheat "notarget" the Scanner will still flash at them but will not chase them. *It is possible to destroy a scanner during the first chapter, when Gordon is unarmed. The scanner present during the rooftop chase can be destroyed by throwing objects at it; after being destroyed it will drop a suit battery that can be carried all the way to Dr. Kleiner's lab. Gallery File:Scanner welcome.jpg|City Scanner welcoming Gordon Freeman to a brand new dystopian world. File:Scanner package.jpg|City Scanner following a Citizen. File:Scanner light1.jpg|City Scanner using its searchlight on the Trainstation Plaza. File:D1 trainstation 0200100.jpg|Scanner in front of the City 17 Trainstation. File:Citadel scanners.jpg|The Citadel deploying City Scanners. File:D3 citadel 020060.JPG|City Scanner in the Citadel. File:Citadel menu background.jpg|A Scanner light seen above in a Citadel shaft. File:D3 citadel 050361.JPG|Scanner above Crab and Mortar Synths. File:City scanner cmb logo.svg|Truncated red "CMB" Combine logo featured on its body. File:Scanner sprite.png|Sprite used when seeing Scanners from a distance, such as when the Citadel first lights up or when Black Mesa East is attacked. File:Scanner sprite bottom.png|Ditto. File:Scanner sprite dots.png|Ditto. List of appearances *''Half-Life 2'' *''Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar'' *''Half-Life 2: Deathmatch'' *''Half-Life 2: Episode One'' *Source Particle Benchmark *''Half-Life 2: Episode Two'' References de:City Scanner es:Escáner urbano Category:Combine Units Category:Half-Life 2 Category:Half-Life 2: Episode One Category:Half-Life 2: Episode Two Category:Scanners Category:Enemies Category:Dhabih Eng designs Category:Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar Category:Robots